If I were to say that I have no loyalty to 'America', and that to me it is simply meme, a made up thing, composed of a bunch of arbitrary lines drawn on a map. I suspect that might get some people's dander up. If I said that the U.S. constitution was nothing more or less than some words on a piece of paper (which I have verified personally) then some people might get offended. If I said that the American flag is just a piece of cloth with a particular pattern on it which I would just as soon wipe my hands with then again some people might get angry about that (and if you want to get angry at me about that you should get really, really angry at the people who make American flag napkins).
Yet all of those things are true. It seems to me that people (even some on the left) worship 'America' the very same way that they worship 'god' i.e. unthinkingly. Simply stated - 'America' is a religion. Its rightness is not to be questioned. Ever. As the MSM shows us daily the republibots make a habit of spitting out the word 'unpatriotic' with maximum derision as if this was just about the worst thing in the world, right next to 'ungodly'. All hail the mighty Amerigod.
Religion has its symbology, its mythology and its rules of behavior. America has exactly the same thing. Cross and flag (suffered on or for), Bible and and Constitution (to be venerated even if unread), Jesus and Jefferson (figures larger than a mere human life to be invoked as absolute authorities). I mean really, can you imagine Jesus or the founding fathers vomiting or grunting as they take a dump like the rest of us poor mortals? Of course not. They were too good for such profane bodily functions.
The Jesus/America memes are held infallible. Fundamentalist Christians don't like to admit that people were burned alive in the name of their god and it seems to me that there is a distinct echo of that sentiment in American's reluctance to admit that the European settlers took this land from the people who were here previously (after intentionally, and unintentionally, weakening them with diseases to which they had little or no resistance). Founded on freedom? Well yes, and no. 'Yes' if you were a white male of European descent and 'no' if you weren't. Also 'freedom from natives' didn't make the official list, but it was certainly there.
It really is no surprise to me that the state-religion memes have begun to merge considering that they exist only in our minds and nowhere else. For instance. If I step outside my door I will see a street, cars, houses and trees. I will see rocks and birds. I will see clouds and sky, but I won't see god and sure as hell won't see the United States, because that exists only in our collective imagination.
I often wonder if by 'the American way of life' people mean 'invading a technologically inferior people, waging devestating biological and conventional war on them and taking their land after they are dead' is really what they mean. Maybe it means 'consuming the highest level of Earth's perishable resources per capita in the world'. Maybe it means the freedom to shop at Walmart. Hell if I know, but if you want to label me 'unpatriotic' please be my guest. If someone asked me to kill and/or die for this meme called 'America' I would refuse. Of course if they pointed a gun at me and said 'do this or we kill you' it would be a different story. I would willingly fight for my family or my world, I might fight for my species, but fight for a nation-meme? Nope.
